


Questioning

by SolarMorrigan



Series: Duck Hugs [8]
Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991)
Genre: Gen, Gender Issues, Trans Character, background drakepad, unintentional transphobic language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-18 02:37:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18111530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolarMorrigan/pseuds/SolarMorrigan
Summary: Even if Gosalyn knows her father will love her no matter what, it bears repeating now and then - particularly when confusing questions are thrown around





	Questioning

**Author's Note:**

> So this one is actually kind of important to me, for a couple of reasons. It's also kind of my attempt to reconcile the idea of Drake as a trans man and Drake in the show trying to force Gosalyn into feminine roles that she obviously dislikes
> 
> I do understand that everyone's experience with being transgender is different, and that my own experiences in no way exempt me from making mistakes. If I have included something harmful in this story _please tell me so I can fix or remove it._ Hopefully, though, this came out alright

“I won’t do it!”

“Oh, yes you will!”

“I won’t!”

“You will!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“I said no, and I mean it!” Gosalyn threw her sourest look at Drake. “Haven’t you always told me “no” means “no,” _Dad?”_

“Not – I didn’t – _yes_ , I _have_ ,” Drake hissed through gritted teeth. “But in this case, don’t you think we can make an _exception?”_

“ _No_ , no I don’t!” Gosalyn declared, crossing her arms firmly over her chest.

Drake growled in frustration, turning his glare on the point of contention laying innocently out on Gosalyn’s bed: a brand-new dress.

It wasn’t anything pink or quite so frilly as the one Drake had purchased for that damnable masquerade ball some time ago – Drake liked to think he’d learned his lesson, there. This one was a nice shade of blue— _periwinkle,_ the shop assistant had called it—and very simple in its design. He’d thought Gosalyn would have little to object to about it.

He supposed he really shouldn’t have underestimated his daughter’s ability to raise objections.

“Look,” Drake snapped, “all I’m asking is _one_ nice family photo. Launchpad and I will put on suits and _you’ll_ put on the dress and look like a nice, young lady! Are we clear?”

If possible, Gosalyn’s expression turned stormier. “Well, what if I don’t _wanna_ be a nice, young lady, huh? What if – what if I wanna throw out all my girl stuff and chop off all my hair and go around and be a _boy_ instead? What _then?”_

Drake opened his mouth, processed Gosalyn’s rant, and closed it again, all the wind quite suddenly gone from his sails. Gosalyn simply stood there, arms crossed and shoulders squared, daring him to argue.

Instead, in a rare moment of pure, parental clarity, Drake backed down. He unclenched his fists and lowered his voice and asked, “Do you want that?”

“I–” Gosalyn stared up at him, some of her hostility draining into confusion. “What?”

“Do you want that?” Drake asked again.

“I – I don’t know. Maybe?” Gosalyn shrugged, crossing her arms more tightly in front of herself. “I don’t know!”

“Well, that’s okay,” Drake said. “You don’t have to know right now.”

Slowly, Drake knelt down on the cluttered floor, crossing his legs and opening his arms in invitation. Gosalyn eyed him suspiciously for only a few moments before hurling herself into his chest, locking her arms around him and burying her face in his sweater. “I don’t wanna wear the dress,” she mumbled into the fabric.

“Okay.” Drake wrapped one arm reflexively around Gosalyn’s back, his other hand coming up to run soothingly over her hair. “I won’t make you wear it.”

For the first time, Drake wondered if he should have told Gosalyn more about his life before her, or even before Darkwing Duck. His childhood, his family, his past – none of it had seemed to be worth bringing up. Most of it wasn’t pleasant to talk about; Launchpad knew a little, some by necessity and some simply by virtue of being Drake’s partner. But now, looking down at his upset little girl – or little boy, or whoever Gosalyn might choose to be – looking down at his upset child, Drake couldn’t help but wonder if he’d done Gosalyn a disservice by sharing so little with her.

“I used to feel like you, y’know,” Drake said, trying to keep his tone light. “People would tell me what I was supposed to be like, how I was supposed to act, and it never felt right.”

Gosalyn glanced up at him, at once skeptical and curious. “Did you grow out of it?”

“Nope. I threw away all my girl stuff, chopped off all my hair, and went around being a boy, instead.”

For a moment, Gosalyn only gaped at him, but it wasn’t long before she regained her voice. “You were _a girl?”_ She gasped.

Drake grimaced, but swallowed the immediate venomous retort; Gosalyn was young, and didn’t know all the words to this sort of conversation yet. “I was never a girl,” Drake said firmly, “but they did say I was one, when I hatched.”

Brows furrowed, Gosalyn took a moment to think those words over. “Did… you always know you were a boy?” She finally asked.

“Well, the things people told me were for girls never felt right, but I wasn’t always sure why. I think I did figure it out pretty early on, even if I didn’t fully understand it.”

It was both easier and more difficult than Drake expected to talk about, coming to terms with being transgender before he even knew the word for it; very few people were privy to the information, but telling Gosalyn things had always been easier than Drake thought they should’ve been.

“But if you know what it’s like, then why are you always trying to force me to wear dresses and do girly stuff?” Gosalyn demanded.

“I’m not _always_ –” Drake broke off abruptly at the force of Gosalyn’s accusing glare, and glanced over at the dress laid out on the bed. A lump of guilt throbbed in his chest. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Gos. I guess my brain’s still a little stuck in the should-be place.”

It was clear from the look on Gosalyn’s face that Drake’s apology was neither clear nor satisfactory, and he tried again. “I just mean, I know I forget sometimes that what other people say is right isn’t always right. You’re the only person who can say what’s right for you, and whatever you choose, I’ll be behind you 100%.”

For a moment, Gosalyn regarded Drake in silence, but just as Drake began to frantically contemplate what else needed to be said, Gosalyn buried her face in his chest once more, nearly crushing his ribs in another hug.

“Thanks, Dad.”

Drake leaned down, pressing a kiss to the top of Gosalyn’s head. “Any time, Sweetheart.”

They were quiet for a short while, though longer than anyone in the Mallard-McQuack household usually was, curled up together on the floor of Gosalyn’s bedroom, but the silence eventually broke.

“So, I don’t have to wear the dress for the picture?”

“No, you don’t have to wear the dress for the picture.”

“Can I just wear my jersey?”

“I still want it to be a nice picture. How about a jacket and tie, like Launchpad and I are going to wear?”

“Aw, that’s so _boring._ What about that cool _leather_ jacket we saw at the mall the other day?”

“I said a _nice_ picture, Gosalyn!”

“That jacket _was_ nice!”

“For a family of bikers, maybe…”

“Ooh, there’s an idea! How about a themed picture? We can all be bikers!”

“Gosalyn!”

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on [Tumblr](http://solarmorrigan.tumblr.com/post/183453916458/questioning-darkwing-duck-gen-background)


End file.
